Yessenia Tellez

Biography

Yessenia Tellez is an assistant professor of finance at Virginia Tech Pamplin College of Business.

Professor Tellez's research areas of interest are household finance, financial intermediation, and empirical corporate finance.  Her current research projects link consumer credit bureau data to household demographics and consumption choices to study how consumption patterns change in times of financial distress.  In addition, her research uses micro-data on individuals’ financial health and marriage status to examine how financial distress impacts marriage dissolution choices.

Her research agenda on financial intermediation analyzes how loan officers’ limited attention, compensation incentives, and lack of human capital impact bank monitoring and their effects on moral hazard outcomes.  

Outside of academia, Professor Tellez has worked in commercial and investment banking in Latin America, where her primary responsibilities included investment portfolio, liquidity, and risk management.

Education

Ph.D. in Finance, Jones Graduate School of Business, Rice University, 2021.

M.A, Economics, Department of Economics, Duke University, 2011.

B.A., Economics, Universidad Centroamericana, Managua, Nicaragua, 2008.

Awards & Honors

Rice University Doctoral Fellowship 2015-2021                                              

Fulbright Scholarship 2009-2011

Organization of American States (OAS) Scholarship 2009-2011